Yes, it could very well be an urban legend--I should have prefaced the story with "supposedly."

I actually did have a point, which is that any broken-in saddle or pair of boots is a lot more comfortable than one that's not broken in, even if breaking either in yourself may give a marginally more satisfactory result.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have dragged Mao into it, but that story somehow popped into my head at a time when my filter was evidently set on "low." I'm pretty sure wouldn't have made a similarly breezy reference about Hitler or Pol Pot. I need to check my settings.

But getting back to the point, I've found that saddles broken in by others have always worked fine for me.
JV